The Runaway
The Runaway is the tenth episode of the second season and the thirty-sixth episode of the series. It first aired on Shining Time Station in the episode Mapping it Out in 1989. In this epsiode, Thomas returns from the Works with a stiff handbrake that almost causes disaster when he runs away. Plot One day, Thomas wakes up feeling ill. Workmen are unable to make him feel better, so Sir Topham Hatt was forced to send Thomas to the works for a while. He then asks Duck to take over Thomas' duties on the branch line. Duck was delighted to give such a responsibility. Duck was already friends with Percy, and quickly befriends Toby, Bertie and Terence, who tells Duck to take extra special care with Annie and Clarabel. Duck is very gentle with them, and both coaches are left very impressed with the Great Western engine and remark on what a pleasure it's to go out with him. When Thomas returns from the works, the two coaches tell him how well Duck had managed on the line. Thomas doesn't feel jealous, as he was just happy to be back home. Although he was back from the works, Thomas isn't in complete working order. His handbrake had been left very stiff, meaning it can feel like his brakes are hard-on when they aren't. Because of this, Thomas begins to overrun the station platform, embarrassing him greatly. Eventually, Thomas' crew learns to compensate for the handbrake, and they stop in just the right place. Thomas' fireman falls ill one day, and a relief man takes his place. Thomas arrives at the station, and the new fireman couples him to Annie and Clarabel, then joins the driver and stationmaster on the platform while they wait for Henry to deliver his passengers. However, the relief fireman has forgotten about the stiff handbrake. Soon, Henry starts to approach with the passengers. But as Thomas' brakes aren't completely on, his wheels start to move, and Thomas can't stop or whistle a warning without his crew. Before anyone realises what's happened, Thomas had left everyone stranded on the platform. Annie and Clarabel scream for Thomas to stop, but he has plenty of steam and keeps going. Soon, an alarm goes out about the runaway train. An engine inspector boards Harold the helicopter, and flies to a station where Thomas was due to pass by and makes a plan. When Thomas reaches the station, he was very tired and was moving far slower than normal. The inspector then makes it to the platform. And when Thomas passes, the inspector scrambles aboard the cab and puts Thomas' brakes on, finally bringing the tank engine to a stop. Both Thomas and the inspector are very relieved and thank Harold, who tells them it was no problem. The inspector tells Thomas that they must make sure this never happens again. Thomas, exhausted, couldn't agree more. Characters *Thomas *Terence *Harold *Annie and Clarabel *Sir Topham Hatt *Edward (does not speak) *Henry (does not speak) *Percy (does not speak) *Toby (does not speak) *Duck (does not speak) *James (stock footage cameo) *Bertie (mentioned) Locations *Elsbridge *Tidmouth *Tidmouth Sheds *Ffarquhar Sheds *The Watermill *Sodor Shipping Company *The Works (mentioned) Notes *This episode was based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book More About Thomas the Tank Engine. *Stock footage from Thomas and Bertie, Old Iron, and Percy and Harold is used. *A deleted scene from Thomas, Percy and the Coal are used. *An alternate shot from Old Iron is used. *In the George Carlin version, Thomas whistles when he comes home, when he passes Duck, and when he was at the station. When Henry arrives at Elsbridge, he whistles too; these are missing in the Ringo Starr versions. *This is the first episode that features Thomas between Toby and Percy at Ffarrquhar Sheds. The second is Thomas Comes to Breakfast. *In Norway, this episode was named "Runaway Train". The Croatian title was "Breakout". In Italy, it was called "A Wild Ride". In Japan, this episode was called "Brakes broken". The French title was "The Fugitive". This is called "Help from Harold" in Welsh. The Spanish title of this episode was "Thomas In Difficulties". *George Carlin's narration of this episode was never featured on an episode of Shining Time Station. It first appeared on Thomas and His Friends Get Along and Other Thomas Adventures. Errors *The brakevan behind Duck appears to be derailed when Thomas passes. *When the Fat Controller speaks to Duck, the right buffer of the breakdown train was broken. *Duck's eyes look wonky when he stops next to Terence. *When Duck leaves Terence, his eyes jitter for a few seconds. *Annie was facing the wrong way when Duck passes Tidmouth Sheds. *When Thomas returns to the sheds, Percy's eyes are wonky. *The ill fireman's arm starts very low down on his body. *Because of stock footage, during the shot of the ill fireman, the cab is actually James'. *Many of the small scale railway staff figures have paint chips. *Henry's eyes are wonky. *Henry was smiling when Thomas runs away. Also, because of the use of stock footage from Thomas and Bertie, Annie and Clarabel are also smiling throughout the runaway. *Just before he runs away, Thomas' "1" seems to have peeled off slightly. *When Harold lands at the station, studio equipment was reflected on his "blades". *After Harold landed at the station, a piece of paper was stuck to his side. *Thomas enters the station when the inspector was on the platform, but comes into the station again a few seconds later. *When the narrator says "The inspector had made a plan", The letters RIP can be seen written on the inside of Harold's door. *In a close-up of Thomas' wheels, a red wire can be seen near his middle wheel. *The stock footage of Harold flying through the valley was improperly cut, because Percy can be seen for a split-second from the episode "Percy and Harold". *Thomas' eyes are wonky for most of the episode. US Home Video Releases *Better Late Than Never and Other Stories *Thomas and His Friends Get Along and Other Thomas Adventures Gallery TheRunawayUKTitlecard.jpg|1987 UK title card TheRunawayrestoredtitlecard.png|Restored UK title card TheRunawayUStitlecard.png|Original US title card TheRunaway1993UStitlecard.png|1993 US title card TheRunawayUStitlecard2.png|1998 US title card TheRunaway2003titlecard.jpg|2003 US title card TheRunaway1991NewZealandtitlecard.jpg|1991 New Zealand title card TheRunawayWelshtitlecard.jpg|Welsh title card TheRunawaySpanishTitleCard.jpg|Spanish Title Card TheRunawayKoreanTitleCard.png|Korean Title Card ThomasandBertie45.png|Stock footage ThomasandBertie46.png|Stock footage Thomas,PercyandtheCoal45.png|Stock footage OldIron44.png|Stock footage PercyandHarold21.png|Stock footage PercyandHarold40.png|Stock footage TheRunaway.png|Harold and Thomas TheRunaway1.PNG|Henry and Thomas TheRunaway2.png TheRunaway3.png|Terence TheRunaway4.jpg|Thomas TheRunaway5.jpg|Toby, Percy, and Thomas in the sheds TheRunaway6.png|Duck TheRunaway7.png|Harold TheRunaway8.png|Thomas feeling ill TheRunaway9.png|Thomas' wheels TheRunaway10.png TheRunaway11.png|Sir Topham Hatt TheRunaway12.png|Edward and Thomas TheRunaway13.png|Sir Topham Hatt and Duck TheRunaway14.png TheRunaway15.png|Duck and Terence TheRunaway16.png TheRunaway17.png|Duck, Annie and Clarabel passing the watermill TheRunaway18.png TheRunaway19.png TheRunaway20.png|Thomas and Duck TheRunaway21.png TheRunaway22.png|"Thomas'" driver and fireman in stock footage TheRunaway23.png TheRunaway24.png TheRunaway25.png TheRunaway26.png TheRunaway27.png TheRunaway28.png|Henry TheRunaway29.png|Red Express Coaches TheRunaway30.png TheRunaway31.png TheRunaway32.png TheRunaway33.png TheRunaway34.png TheRunaway35.png TheRunaway36.png TheRunaway37.png|Harold landing at the station TheRunaway38.png TheRunaway39.png TheRunaway40.png TheRunaway41.png|Thomas' driver TheRunaway42.png TheRunaway43.png TheRunaway44.jpg TheRunaway45.png TheRunaway46.png TheRunaway47.png TheRunaway48.png|Deleted scene TheRunaway49.png TheRunaway50.png TheRunaway51.png TheRunaway52.png TheRunaway53.png TheRunaway54.png TheRunaway55.png TheRunaway56.png TheRunaway57.png TheRunaway58.png TheRunaway59.png TheRunaway60.png TheRunaway61.png TheRunaway62.png TheRunaway63.png TheRunaway64.png TheRunaway65.png TheRunaway66.png TheRunaway67.png TheRunaway69.png TheRunaway70.png Category:Episodes Category:Season 2 episodes Category:Thomas and Friends episodes